Thursday, September 30, 2010

Jittrakarn Bunterngpiboon / Hazel White

Aaaaaaaand ACTION! In her "Live Action" collection, Thai jeweller Jittrakarn Bunterngpiboon encourages participation with your ring, bringing you into its creation. The "Build ME" box (above), for instance, can be unfolded into numerous shapes.

Above: more of her interactive jewellery, including pieces from her "Play" collection.

Bonus link: Scotland's Hazel White is a designer and researcher who creates interactive jewellery (like this light ring) to study "the aesthetics, meaning and functionality that jewellery can bring to wearable technology."

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

dterra (Roberta Ferreira and Jener Laura) / Aline Kokinopoulos

These decorative planters would look nice by the front entrance.

Of course, you'd have to be careful not to step on them. Shrunken vase rings in ceramic and silver by Spain's dterra (Roberta Ferreira, originally from Buenos Aires, and Jener Laura, a native Barcelonan).

Bonus link:If you've got vases, you need flowers. Aline Kokinopoulos of France has lots of botanical silver pieces inspired by her garden (as well as miniature city rings).

Monday, September 27, 2010

Fernando Akasaka / Urth

But, not to worry  they're all part of one happy family created by Brazilian designer Fernando Akasaka (whose "Le blob" collection I also mentioned in passing last November).

Bonus link: for another spiky ring, check out this "SuperStud" created by Stephen Webster for Urth, a Beverly Hills jeweller that buys its gold directly from miners and reinvests profits back into the communities where the gold was mined.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Jess Jones / Chaya Studio

"Personalized jewellery" doesn't have to mean monogrammed rings or a pendant stamped with your birthdate. UK designer Jess Jones offers a more subtle solution with her "Time" rings, a "jewellery system which allows the wearer to mark a significant piece of time." Enter your data (date, time, etc.) into a computer program and it uses the numbers to create a unique shape for your ring. Personalized but private.

Bonus link: here's a ring personalized with someone else's dates. The numbers in this Jimi Hendrix tribute ring represent his birth and death (40 years ago last week). Created for a client by Maine's Chaya Studio.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Dominique Thomas-Vansteenberghe has lots of jewellery for your fingers... but no rings. That is, you won't find any circular bands in her gallery. The Belgian jeweller revels in non-traditional shanks, from T-bars to vesica pisces to an unclosed, twisting line, all designed to adorn your fingers. Just no rings.

Bonus link: Denmark's Superstar in Fashion (Ann Lund Würtz) also has plenty of multi-finger rings, though hers do use the familiar bands of a typical ring.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Tamara Navama / Tom Schmelzer

I can't quite decipher Israeli artist Tamara Navama's "I Am Writing" series. With those tangled connections of copper wire, perhaps it's a commentary on email and modern communication. Or maybe it's just stylized chicken scratch. Either way, visit her site for more.

Bonus link:There's no way you'd miss what this ring has to say. German artist Tom Schmelzer's ring is embossed with letters so sharp, they cause pain to the wearer. Visit his site to find out why.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

What's New at The Carrotbox

Friday, September 17, 2010

NizA Huang / Dafna Schwimmer Dagan

Can you spot the rings? Taiwanese illustrator, animator and jeweller NizA Huang incorporated all three areas of her expertise in her "Hello Puppet" series. Visit her site to see the video and the jewellery pieces that make up her marionette.

Bonus link: when you're done assembling that puppet, you can start to work on one of Israeli jeweller Dafna Schwimmer Dagan's many puzzles, like this heart comprised of three separate rings.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Olga Konopka / Claudio Paniagua / Codigo Mio

Variations on a theme: UK jeweller Olga Konopka plays with many iterations of gold dots on silver.

Meanwhile, Spain's Claudio Paniagua uses the same two metals to explore circles and spheres.

Bonus link: here's another ring with gold dots on silver  only this time, the dots are actually Braille. Designed by Hong Kong's Codigo Mio, a collaboration between jeweller Carol Carmen Xavier and product designer Gareth Joe.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Allyson Gee / Anna Sue Lorenz

In the artist's own words:

"I am particularly interested in how entomology and lepidoptery collections are displayed in uniform alignment in cabinets and drawers. Drawing aesthetic inspiration from this, I create geometric structures that imitate the display cases that the insects are butterflies are held in."

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Bai Yang Qiu / Henriette White / Blue Barkes

Are you ok with white after Labour Day? I sure am, especially when it comes to this ring in recycled styrofoam by Chinese jeweller Bai Yang Qiu. She has lots of jewellery made from recycled material, like the "$¢ent" necklace of perfume samples!

Ok, what if it's white as in Henriette White? The South African jeweller, who now resides in Holland, made these bright rings using perspex and aluminum.

Bonus link:There are no archaic rules about black or blue after Labour Day, so I can safely present the UK's Blue Barkes and her slate rings with inlaid silver and sapphires.

About Me

Hi! Visit the shop at thecarrotbox.com and get the full version of the blog at thecarrotbox.com/news! I stopped putting a full copy of the blog here because I think Google thought I was some copycat weirdo.